Morning routine maintained with Andy out running early down to the Gladstone marina and back.

After a quick dip in the hotel pool pre breakfast, we soon showered, ate and packed before hitting the road by 9.15am on our way to Emu Park some 90 miles cross country.

Emu Park is an idyllic seaside village with plenty of character. It’s home to the famous Singing Ship sculpture. Set against a spectacular coastal vista, the majestic monument commemorates the area’s legacy of the historical explorations of Captain James Cook.

The gentle sea breeze produces a musical sound through fluted pipes that reminds you of an orchestra prepping for a performance.

Bell Park, located in the town’s centre, is a peaceful oasis perfect for enjoying a picnic and we saw lots of people out with families enjoying fish & chips for lunch.

Emu Park Main Beach is a calm beach with a surrounding grassy picnic area and a long jetty that was historically used by trading ships.

Just below the Singing Ship is a viewing deck and boardwalk that makes up part of the new Centenary of ANZAC Memorial Walk.

The boardwalk hugs the coastline and features information on the First World War’s many major battles. At the lower end of the walk are several commemorative art installations and a gatehouse that honours locals who fought in World War One.

This is one of the most impressive regional memorials of its kind in Australia, with the Precinct having received national and global recognition for its beauty and likeness to an ANZAC cove.

The Emu Park ANZAC Commemorative Precinct features integrated street-scaping, parkland enhancement, artwork and interpretive memorial walkway.

The Singing Ship is an unique structure sitting high on a grassy hill at the end of the ANZAC walk with magnificent sea views. The hidden organ pipes on the structure use the sea breezes to produce the little musical “tubular” sounds.

There are two areas that we visited for mural art in the town… firstly the bathing pavilions.

We then made our way to Shelly’s Beach where we enjoyed a cool Tropical Smoothie looking out over the ocean in low slung chairs. What a life!

We then strolled down the beach and watched the unusual cloud formations move across the skyline.

There were some emus on the main beach that made us laugh – so endearing we had to stop and picture the emus all with unique and quirky personalities.

With Yeppoon only 10km up the road, by midafternoon we decided to drive up to our latest B&B stay. On the way we did a short detour to drive to the Wreck Point Scenic Lookout.

After checking in to our ‘home’ for the next 3 nights, we returned to Yeppoon for drinks and dinner. We had beers at Lure Living bar close to the main beach, before heading to Keppel Bay Sailing Club for a Saturday night feast.

It was great to go out for dinner and mix with the locals.

The Sailing Club was in a great spot right on the water front and incredible well priced given its prime location. We liked it so much we’ve booked a table for tomorrow evening to watch the Australia Day celebrations and fireworks!